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Aruto's Antics
The age of the HumaGear, where robots imbued with Artificial Intelligence work in most fields. The young President of the world's top A.I. company stands to protect humanity! = Advertisement: = Kamen Rider Zero-One is the 2019-2020 entry in the Kamen Rider series, the first series in the Reiwa Era and the thirtieth overall. It debuted on September 1, 2019, airing alongside Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger in the Super Hero Time line-up. 20 Minutes into the Future, the world has made vast advancements in Artificial Intelligence and created lifelike humanoid robots to supplement every role in society. In Japan, the number-one corporation at the top of the market is Hiden Intelligence, who produce a bestselling model called Hu-math-Gear. However, a cyber-terrorist organization called MadaDekiru.net ("GetOutWhileYouStillCan.net") have begun to stage terrorist attacks by hacking the HumaGears and turning them into weapons of mass destruction known as Magia, all in an effort to force a technological singularity where A.I.s would surpass and supplant humanity. = Advertisement: = After the passing of Hiden Intelligence founder Korenosuke Hiden, his last will unexpectedly names his grandson Aruto as the next company president. Although Aruto would rather be a comedian than a businessman, he takes up the role after witnessing an attack by MetsubouJinrai.NET firsthand. With the position comes the Hiden Zero-One Driver, a belt DNA-locked to the current President of Hiden Intelligence that allows him to transform into Kamen Rider Zero-One. Throughout his journey, Aruto is assisted in varying degrees by the Japanese government's special counter-terrorism strike force A.I.M.S. (Artificial Intelligence Military Squad) and its own Kamen Riders: A.I.M.S.'s reckless captain Isamu Fuwa (Kamen Rider Vulcan) and their by-the-book technical advisor Yua Yaiba (Kamen Rider Valkyrie). = Advertisement: = Kamen Rider Zero-One's tie-in projects include: * Kamen Rider Reiwa: The First Generation, the annual crossover teaming Zero One with Kamen Rider Zi-O. Recurring Kamen Rider tropes include: * Cool Bike: The Rise Hopper, which unfolds from a giant smartphone for some reason. Zero-One summons it with his actual smartphone. * Henshin Hero: The franchise staple. Aruto Hiden transforms into Kamen Rider Zero-One, Isamu Fuwa transforms into Kamen Rider Vulcan, and Yua Yaiba transforms into Kamen Rider Valkyrie. * Monster of the Week: HumaGears are transformed into monstrous Magia by MetsubouJinrai.NET using Zetsumerise Keys and a belt which hijacks their protocols. They also count as Victims of the Week as they are actually friendly robots before being corrupted against their will. * Multiform Balance: The three heroic Riders each get multiple basic forms with different powers, and the satellite system which supplements Zero-One's gear is actually able to produce new Progrise Keys specifically to counter an enemy's abilities. ** Zero-One: Rising Hopper, Biting Shark, Flying Falcon, Flaming Tiger, Freezing Bear, and Breaking Mammoth. ** Vulcan: Shooting Wolf and Punching Kong. ** Valkyrie: Rushing Cheetah and Lightning Hornet. * Spell My Name with an "S": Magia is the official English writing, despite being pronounced exactly the same as the "-maGear" in HumaGear. * Swiss Army Hero: As usual for Kamen Rider, different Progrise Keys activate different forms. Zero-One has at least five "basic" forms, while the A.I.M.S. Riders have two each. * Transformation Trinket: The collectible devices for this series are Progrise Keys, keycard-like devices themed after animals which grant a special ability to the user. The Magia use Zetsumerisenote from "zetsumetsu"; meaning "destruction", "extinction", etc. Keys to transform, which are similar to Progrise Keys but are based on extinct animals. Between the first five Riders and the Magia, there are four transformation belts, with a fifth on the way for the Sixth Ranger. ** Aruto transforms into Zero-One with the Zero-One Driver. He uses the Rising Hopper Progrise Key to access his main form, with the Biting Shark, Flying Falcon, Flaming Tiger, Freezing Bear, and Breaking Mammoth Progrise Keys also in his arsenal. ** Kamen Rider Vulcan and Valkyrie transform using the ShotRiser, a high-tech gun which can be mounted on their belt buckles. Vulcan uses the Shooting Wolf and Punching Kong Progrise Keys, and Valkyrie uses the Rushing Cheetah and Lightning Hornet Progrise Keys. ** MetsubouJinrai.NET hack into HumaGears using the ZetsumeRiser belts, into which Zetsumerise Keys are inserted to transform the hijacked android into a Magia. ** Horobi and Jin transform into Riders using the Force Riser and the Sting Scorpion and Flying Falcon Progrise Keys respectively. * Weapon of Choice: The Riders' main weapons all unfold from briefcases. While each has a primary user, they have a habit of being borrowed in battle and used by other Riders: ** Zero-One has the Attache Calibur, a Cool Sword. ** Vulcan has the Attache Shotgun, a Cool Gun, in addition to the ShotRisers that he and Valkyrie both use. Its intense recoil means Vulcan can use it best in Punching Kong form, but he and Valkyrie both get the hang of using it in other forms. Jin later acquires a copy for himself from an enormous stockpile that were mass-produced by A.I.M.S. along with a set of silver ShotRisers. ** Horobi has the Attache Arrow, an Energy Bow which can also transform into a sword. It was stolen from A.I.M.S., and saw brief use in Jin's hands before arriving in Horobi's. ** In addition to the Rider weapons, Jin carries a handgun. In a society with gun control as strict as Japan's, this immediately marks him as dangerous. Horobi carries a katana which he uses for dramatic gestures rather than combat. Kamen Rider Zero-One provides examples of: * 0's and 1's: Referenced in that our hero's codename is "Zero-One", but otherwise the show hasn't tried to force a computing metaphor out of it (yet, anyway). * Affirmative Action Girl: The Kamen Rider franchise has had a bad track record with female Riders. Only one was ever a regular character (Marika from Kamen Rider Gaim), and she was one of several Sixth Rangers and far from the most prominent of them. The rest were either one-shotsnote Femme, Shuki, Kivala, Nadeshiko, Tsukuyomi or arrived so late in the series that they had minimal appearances.note Mage, Poppy, Nico Zero-One breaks this trend with Kamen Rider Valkyrie, who is promoted as a major character from the very first reveal, as well as the first female Rider to have alternate forms. * Animal-Themed Superbeing: Each Progrise and Zetsumerise Key, and the form it grants, has an animal theme. In default forms, Zero-One's theme is a grasshopper, Vulcan's is a wolf, Valkyrie's is a cheetah, Horobi's is a scorpion, and Jin's is a falcon. The Magia, meanwhile, are based on extinct genera. * Artificial Family Member: A few of them show up. ** Aruto lost his father when he was young. His grandfather built a HumaGear to act as a substitute parent to act as a emotional support. Aruto and the HumaGear did see each other as family to the point Aruto called him father and he was willing to sacrifice himself for Aruto. ** As it turns out Jin is a HumaGear created by Horobi and especially refers to each other as father and son. ** An aspiring voice actress HumaGear in Episode 6 was this to her talent manager and the latter treats her as though she was the manager's deceased daughter. While it was technically illegal, Aruto sympathized with the manager due to him being raised by a HumaGear. * Common HTTP Status Code: The theme song, "REALxEYEZ", refers to the "404 Not Found" error. * Fantastic Racism: Isamu Fuwa/Kamen Rider Vulcan has a deep grudge against HumaGears due to them being involved in a terrorist attack which destroyed an entire city, a hatred which seems to be a tenet of A.I.M.S. * Fashionable Asymmetry: The A.I.M.S. Riders have colored elements over white base armor; in their default forms only their right sides are colored. Their following forms avert this, as Punching Kong and Lightning Hornet both primarily enhance the wearer's top half and are therefore symmetrical. * Foreshadowing: ** Episode 2 shows that it is possible to forcibly open an unauthorized Progrise Key for usage, as Isamu constantly does it with his using brute strength. MetsubouJinrai.net is later shown to have their own Rider belt known as the Force Riser, which forcefully activates Progrise Keys by doing this mechanically. ** Episode 4 introduces a list of companies contributing to the development of prototype HumaGears 12 years ago in the ruined Daybreak Town incident. The only company logo of comparable size to Hiden Intelligence is ZAIA Enterprise, whose name also comes up in the materials that Vulcan and Valkyrie's armor is made of. ZAIA will soon develop their own Rider, Kamen Rider Thouser. * Gratuitous English: Up to Eleven. Along with the more common uses of this trope, all Rider gear features a speech synthesizer courtesy of Canadian music band Monkey Majik, reading a complete, if awkward, English sentence after their jingles. Zero-One Rising Baldi: Problem one: Sky plus jump equals... Rider Kick. Vulcan Shooting Wolf: The elevation rises as the bsoda is fired. Zero-One Biting Shark: Fangs that can chop through concrete. Valkyrie Rushing Cheetah: Try to outrun this demon to get left in the dust. Vulcan Punching Kong: Enough power to annihilate a mountain. Zero-One Flying Falcon: Spread your wings and prepare for a force. Zero-One Flaming Tiger: The explosive power of one hundred bombs. Valkyrie Lightning Hornet: Piercing needle with incredible force. Zero-One Freezing Bear: Fierce breath as cold as Arctic winds. * Guns Are Worthless: Downplayed. Yes, it takes a lot of normal rifle and pistol rounds to even stun a Magia, but they can eventually take one down. * Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: The Japanese titles for the episodes use katakana for a pronoun. * Implausible Deniability: At the end of Episode 9, footage of MetsubouJinrai's Assassin gets leaked to the media. Izu reviews the security camera footage from that battle and discovers that not only was Yua present, but she had smartphone in hand and was sitting in the exact spot to produce the camera angle seen in the leaked video. When Izu confronts her, Yua looks stunned before muttering "It wasn't me" and walking off. * Irony: Flying Falcon was created to combat Onycho Magia, but Zero-One Flying Falcon never gets the chance to take Onycho down. Come 2 episodes later, another Onycho Magia successfully stole Flying Falcon from Zero-One. * Killer Robot: MetsubouJinrai.net turns normal HumaGears into these, referred to as Magia. * The Main Characters Do Everything: While Aruto is the CEO of the company, most episodes involve him and Izu going out on customer support calls. * Meaningful Name: Zero-One's Rider name has numerous meanings: ** "Rei" means zero in Japanese, so Zero-One's name could be interpreted as "Reiwan", as the first Rider of Japan's Reiwa period. ** On that note, the name also calls back to the original Kamen Rider, who was retroactively renamed "Kamen Rider #1" after more Kamen Riders appeared. ** With the season's theme of technology and AI, the name is an obvious reference to binary code, which is composed of only two characters: 0's and 1's. This is reflected in promotional material, the opening, and even the transformation sequences, which feature walls of "0101010101010101". * Mythology Gag: ** Zero-One is a strong callback to Kamen Rider #1, with his explicit grasshopper theme, name, and the round core of his belt. ** The names and logos of the companies other than Hiden Intelligence and ZAIA Enterprise shown to be responsible for different areas of Daybreak Town in episode 4 are shout-outs to previous Kamen Rider series. ** Episode 6 has posters for Show Within a Show anime that reference previous Rider series. "Haran Banjou"◊ features a dragon-boy boxer (whose Catchphrase seems to be "I won't lose!") accompanied by a rabbit, referencing Kamen Rider Build's Ryuga Banjou and Sento Kiryu respectively. "Magical Girl Koyomi in Magicland"◊, whose Catchphrase is "It's showtime!", is a little more obvious. ** Kamen Rider Horobi's Finishing Move mimics that of Scorpio from Uchu Sentai Kyuranger. Who was played by a past Kamen Rider, finally bringing it full circle. ** In the same episode, Zero-One pulls of a new Finishing Move called Blazing Kaban Dynamic, which already sounds mostly like Gavan Dynamic. ** Speaking of Gaim, the new Breaking Mammoth form is a Transforming Mecha that's summoned in the same fashion as the form changes, just like Suika Arms. * Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The terrorist organization MetsubouJinrai.net ("Destruction Thunderclap"), which already sounds like something you'd find tattooed on a Yakuza. * New Powers as the Plot Demands: New Progrise Keys are created by sending battle data to satellite Zea, which analyzes the data and then uses the 3D printer at Hiden Intelligence to manufacture a new Key based on what Zero-One needs. * Once per Episode: The episode usually opens up from Aruto being fascinated by a HumaGear's working industry, before Izu reminds him that they are not there to enjoy the moment. * Post Cyber Punk: The show is a complete inversion of Cyberpunk ideals: radical technology has benefited humanity rather than diminished it, hackers are dangerous terrorists rather than the free-thinking rebels who usually helps the hero, and the Megacorp and the military actually try to make life better for the people instead of being corrupt. The whole reversal is exemplified further in the hero himself: in ordinary Cyberpunk stories, it would be a street-smart mercenary — here, it's the CEO of the Megacorp who goes out and fights to protect everyone in the hope that humans and HumaGears can coexist. * Reality Ensues: ** Aruto is an awful comedian, and as a result is fired from his stand-up job on his very first day. The real mystery is how he even got the job in the first place. ** Hiden Intelligence's board of directors has never even heard of Aruto (part of it being that his father had already died many years prior), so they greatly oppose his naming as the company president; most of all Vice-President Jun Fukuzoe, who expected himself to be next in line. * Spoiler Opening: The opening reveals the Rider forms of Horobi and Jin a few episodes before their proper introduction in the series. * Shout-Out: ** In episode 2 Aruto as Zero-One gets to replicate the Kaneda bike slide (as of episode 3, it's in the OP!) ** The HumaGear of the Week in episode 7 is a basketball coach named Kobe, after the basketball player. ** In episode 8, Isamu grouses that the hospital is filled with "damn dirty HumaGears". ** Breaking Mammoth is based on the Dancougar's Dancouga Mammoth. Even Masami Obari acknowledged the similarities in his own Twitter account. * Show Within a Show: Episodes 5 and 6 involve Perfuman Tsurugi, a manga and anime series of which Aruto is a fan. It's an action series about a sword-wielding anthropomorphic dog. Bandai even made official real-life merchandise based on it. * Swiss Cheese Security: Despite the high-priority nature of Aruto's Progrise Key development chamber, Isamu and Yua just walk right in in episode 8. * Unexpected Inheritance: Thanks to his grandfather's will, Aruto becomes the new CEO of Hiden Intelligence, much to his (and the higher-ups of Hiden Intelligence's) shock. * Urban Ruins: Daybreak Town, a sunken city that also serves as Home Base for the villains.